This chapter seeks to demonstrate some of the potential contributions of a corpus-based approach to study abroad research. Drawing on the Spanish Learner Language Oral Corpora, the present analysis examines a set of vague expressions known as general extenders (GEs) (Overstreet 1999) utilized by undergraduate English L1 learners after a year abroad. Specifically, the analysis focuses on patterns emergent from the concordancing analysis of learner language production alongside four exploratory case studies of learners&#8217; motives and dispositions towards their study abroad experience. The discussion draws parallels between the corpus-derived types, frequencies and pragmatic functions of GEs, and individual learner access to everyday language use in various study abroad situations.